LOCAL DENTIST CONTINUES LONG TIME
SUPPORT AND INVOLVEMENT IN
COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES.
A
fter 13 years in business,
Dr. Edward E. W ard is con
vinced that he chose the right
profession as a career. A practicing
dentist in downtown Portland, Dr. Ward
speaks proudly of his community in­
volvement but speaks more proudly of
his unique Family Dental Plan which
does not require insurance. “ This is a
low cost, pre-paid dental plan prepared
exclusively for our own patients," claims
the Dr. “ enrolling in this plan gives
one the opportunity to pre-pay our of­
fice in order to obtain low fees.”
The plan provides com plete ex­
amination, two preventive dental clean­
ings, one set of prevention X-Rays, and
two fluoride treatments. The unique­
ness o f this plan is that it is offered at
the extremely low cost o f less than
$200 for adults or youth 20 years and
under.
It is estim ated that less than 2% of
the dentists in M ultnomah County of­
fers a com parable plan.
But being innovative in a business
sense is not ju st the only positive move
made by Dr. W ard in his community
involvement. He has also sponsored
various community projects such as
the Links, Beauty Pageants, and other
pageantry events that places special
em phasis on youth. W hen he speaks of
his contribution or involvement, the
doctor comes o ff very shy. But I truly
believe (as a result o f the interview)
that he was em barrassed because he
felt that he couldn’t do more.
A graduate of the University of North
Texas, with a bachelors degree in sci­
ence, Dr. Ward received his doctorate of
Dental medicine from the University o f
Oregon in 1980. He has practiced at the
University of Oregon Health Sciences
Center, and served as a consultant to
various dental related projects.
In talking with the Doctor, one-on-
one, it was obvious that he had a blue­
print for success.
“ I was blessed when I hired Jennell
W iner as my office m anager in 1987” ,
claims the Doctor. “ She (Jennell) brought
with her a talent o f leadership and direc­
tion o f staff, which allow ed me to con­
centrate on developing the business, while
still maintaining close com m unity con­
tact.”
The Doctors com m ents are not by
any means selfish. His employees speak
as highly of him as he does o f them.
According to Jennell, the office m an­
ager, “ This is the most satisfying job I
have ever had. It allows me to grow as an
individual and also to develop my per­
sonal skills.”
Her sentiments are echoed by Chyra
Andrews, who has been on staff since
July 1989, and Vernessa Chambers, on
board since March 1990. A visit to the
m odem and spacious facility testifies to
the fact that the doctor is not only blessed
with talent, but a beautiful staff as well.
Dr. W ard offers the following insur­
ance plans in lieu of the pre-paid low fee
plan:
Location
Our office is conveniently located downtown in the Oregon
National Building at 610 S.W. Alder, Suite 100«. between
Sixth Avenue and Broadway We are one block north of the Light
Kail Protect and Nordstroms located on Morrison, a half block
west of the Transit Mall and one block west of Meier & Frank.
PIONEER
PIONEER
SQUARE
NORDSTROMS
r
l i f e
8 z
2
FIRST
INTERSTATE
BANK
MEIER
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{
CASCADE
I
BLDG.
I
Why Wc Developed
This Plan I'or You:
Over tile past several years Dr. Ward has
liecn
t+ W
CONTINENTAL
CROSSROADS
FRANK
>
«
Dr. Ward and Staff
>
5
l > I
Therefore, in order to provide low cost, high
X
CHARLES
BERG
BLDG.
FRED
MEYERS
---- X-
MORGAN'S
ALLEY
DR. WARD S
OFFICE
in-house denial plan e xctia ive fyjo ro u ro u m
Basic Prevention Services.-
people could not obtain any type of coverage
¡talienls.
1 Complete Examination
2 Preventive Dental Cleanings
not eligible
■
T h e annual pre paid fee is n u n -refun dable.
■
O ur plan is for you and is nou-assignalile Io
■
One year tune lim it for completion of all services
■
Work started before end o f T lw Plan year will be
provided hy T lw Plan.
This plan w ill provide regular preventive
wide scope of basic dental treatment.
Services and ices arc guaranteed fur one year
Tw o week w ailing period
another person
and various other types of coverage. Many
quality care at a low cost while covering a
■
■
(wanrd if (uuxxJ un tiMial nut)
quality dentistry, wc have developed our own
require group participation, so individuals arc
Provisions o f Plan:
What Will Your Plan
Provide?
asked many questions about dental insurance
at any price. Also, insurance companies
Dr. Edward E. Ward, D.M.D.
completed if il le work can be fimslted w ithin two
weeks after die expiration of die Plan Year
(art Ihwtar s DacMbrtl
1 Set of Prevention X-rays
2 Fluoride Treatments
RP
’
"
It is tl«e responsibility of patient Io make sure tlwy
receive and slmw up for llieir two cleanings and x-ray
appointments
Total Prevention Care
* Appointments arc required. There is a $25 fee for
Your initial savings under this plan:
each broken appointment without giving advance 24
Adult
hour notice
Youth (1 2 -2 0 )
Youth (4 -1 1 )
All other dental procedures which are offered
Only denial procedures listed in tlac f ee Schedule are
at greatly reducedfees, are listed on live back
included. Any oilier work or referred s|xxtalty work
panel under "Fee Schedule.''
w ill not Ik- included and regular, customary office fees
w ill be charged
*
Advantages o f Your Plan
over Dental Insurance:
Edward E. Ward,
«
Emergency tre a tm e n t NOT included Paym ent
is due at the tim e service is rendered
No deductible
No lim it on benefits
D.M.D.
No exclusions for pre-existing conditions
Family Dentistry
caring people who jw « know and ZrrttZ
Edward E. Ward,
No claim forms or other “ red tape''
Your dental care is provided by friendly,
D.M.D.
\
Dr. Ward and Patient
Family Dentistn
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO
Community Profile: Lonnie Jenkins
MINORITY BUSINESS: A SERIES By D,nny Be"___________
BY PROFESSOR MCKINLEY BURT
That headline is taken from
the title o f a book written in
1972 by a black professor of
business at at prom inent U ni­
versity. That’s right! Almost twenty years
ago there was growing concern that the
“ Great Leap Forward” supposed to have
taken place in the developm ent o f en­
trepreneurship among African A m eri­
cans had proven to be more o f a “ Long
M arch’ ’ than a governm ent and founda­
tion-funded rapid thrust into the main
stream o f American commerce.
So, are things any better today? Do
we find that hard lessons were leamed-
was there a resurgence o f an earlier
com m itm ent and enthusiasm? And was
that now harnessed to an experience-
based organization o f capital and other
resources, all supported by community-
wide realization that the tremendous (200
billion) buying pow er o f African A m eri­
cans could be used to shore up the pre­
carious econom ic situation of an entire
group? Did the black middle class with
its many professionals employed in
managem ent and key staff positions in
industry begin to network and to mount
coherent, structured efforts toward spin­
ning out o f ‘working-for the m an’ and
into businesses they were well qualified
to operate?
This series will address those ques­
tions and much, much more. I will draw
on personal experience in both tradi­
tional and minority business sectors, from
business enterprises I’ve owned and from
many years of both public and staff ac­
counting in these sectors. Too, I have
held contracts as a consultant in these
areas and taught business courses at Port­
land State University. 1 shall make an
effort here to bring the same type of
experience-based insight to bear, as I did
in those classes. It is not to be expected
that I will make everyone happy with a
sometimes caustic but always truthful
commentary-but I think the circumstances
demand such an approach.
Now, it was not too many weeks ago
that in my “ Perspectives’ ’ column I gave
a description of a ‘steam cleaning’ busi­
T
ness I operated in central Oregon during
the early 1950s. If I did not make a point
very relevant to this series, I will em pha­
size it now; this was a traditional, ‘estab­
lishm ent-type’ enterprise without any
support or direction from any organiza­
tion, government or foundation, involved
in the advancem ent o f “ minority busi­
ness” . O ther salient points-which could
be gleaned from the description o f op-
eration-w erc that the clientele was com ­
posed o f white farmers, ranchers, log­
gers, truckers, and restaurant owners,
and that ‘financing’ was traditional (con­
ventional): Start-up from savings, addi­
tional equipment purchased out o f earn­
ings, business sold at a profit.
Hold that thought while for pur­
poses o f comparison wc explore another
enterprise o f mine which was launched
alm ost ten years later in Los Angeles.
Here we arc provided with highlights in
the experience of a single minority en­
trepreneur, extreme circum stances that
focus on the different stages upon which
an African American may have to act out
his version of the “ American D ream .”
A ‘real-tim e’ examination, not theory!
In the particular case, keep in mind
that I had gone back to work in my pro­
fession o f accounting. My job was m an­
aging the inventory control department
of a major discount house, a m ulti-m il­
lion dollar operation that sold every­
thing from clothing, furniture and appli­
ances to jew elry, furs and boats. Newly
married and with little saving 1 fitted into
a traditional circum stance, certainly not
related to race. The earlier business I
described began with the fortuitous ac­
quisition of a carwash in seldcm cnt o f a
debt (but recognizing and seizing upon
opportunity). In the following condensed
presentation of events we arc provided
with another frustration that frequently
confronts the minority entrcprcncur-did
the failure evolve from conventional
functions o f the m arket-place, or was it
the result of racial discrim ination. How
to know?
This was a time (1960) when ow n­
ing a "L A U N D R O M A T ” was a fairly
new but popular sm all-business target
for both whites and blacks. Capital rc-
quirements were relatively low and not a
lot of mechanical skill was required (unless
Arriving from Louisana in 1963 and
something went wrong). Restless work­
fresh out of High School, Lonnie Jen­
ing for someone else, I had surveyed the
kins first found employment with a
field but, as stated earlier, had no capi-
plastics manufacturing company. Not
tal-not even enough to take advantage of
one to be satisfied with mediocrity she
the widely-advertised “ franchise” or
soon became disenchanted with this
“ turn-key” opportunities. However, both
direction in her life. She began to
my wife and I had good-paying, seem ­
e x p lo re
d iffe re n t
fie ld s ;
ingly secure jobs.
nursing,computers and teaching math,
With an extensive business back­
but none of those fields held a great
ground and the specific knowledge of
appeal to her. She enjoyed working
equipm ent sources, costs and financing
with hair, and decided to pursue hair
gained from my inventory control job, I
styling.
cam e up with an innovative idea for
In 1966 shortly after a divorce, and
entering this field with almost no money-
with one child to care for,she em ­
$5000 for a pickup truck, office and
barked on her Cosmetology education
phone! Over the years I had seen a number
at Portland Beauty Academy She paid
of my accounting clients succeed in similar
her $350 tuition with the tips she re­
ventures. And though possible problems
ceived
of race arc always in the ‘brothers’ mind,
After graduating in 1967, she worked
Los Angeles, at the time, was a place
where many blacks were succeeding (or at various shops gaining practical
failing) in making fortunes with innova­ experience with different types and
tive ventures, I decided to go with the textures of hair. In 1981 she opened
up her own salon, Unity of Love.
positivc-my usual mind set.
Since then, Lonnie has returned to
Forming a partnership with a neigh­
school
and obtained her teaching cer­
bor who had been a service mechanic
tificate
from
Mt. Hood Community Col-
with a large franchiser o f laundromats, I
went about contacting the many builders leae. She felt there was a need for the
of large apartment complexes in the rapidly
growing urban area the moment they
secured their building permits. I suc­
ceeded in convincing some that, with a
very minor alteration o f building plans,
our firm could install an ‘in-house-laun-
drom at’-wilh a CAPTIVE CLIENTELE
o f the hundreds of tenants in the build­
ing. This was projected as a financial
annuity which could aid amortization of
bui Iding costs, and/or markedly enhance
any subsequent sale e ffo rt
The idea sold like hot cakes and we
even negotiated service contracts (which
were mostly gravy). O ur contracts with
builders was the financial base for the
entire operation. They were discounted
to the Bank of America which progres­
sively advanced monies until com ple­
tion of a facility. Suppliers furnished
boilers, washers and dryers on a progres­
sive payment schedule, but m ost of the
SEE WHAT HAPPENED ON PAGE S
local educators of hair design to un­
derstand African-American hair.
She demonstrates further com ­
mittment to the com m unity by provid­
ing no cost hair care service to an
individual senior citizen each year .
S healso.doesvolunteerw orkthrough
her church for less than fortunate ch il­
dren referred to her.
She stays abreast with the latest
trends in hair fashion by constantly
updating her hair education. Her most
recent being .Dudley’s Advance T rain­
ing Academy, in Kemerville, North Caro­
lina last May.
She has a knack for surrounding
herself with excellent support staff,
such as Arice Taylor, who often con­
tributes articles to local publications
and is regarded as an expert authority
in hair weeving.Celestine also adds to
her present team of hair stylists.
As a business woman, Lonnie ad­
vocates a consortium approach that
would be sim ilartoO .P .E .C . She feels
an alliance of this nature would help
lower the high cost of insurance for
hair stylists and salon operators.
Lonnie Jenkins
Lonnie has long been a supporter of
other African-American businesses and
is a distributor of W illie Ocean prod­
ucts.
It is obvious she enjoys and takes
great pride in her profession and is
comm itted to it. Portland is lucky to
have a person like Lonnie Jenkins
here.
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prepared by a form er IRS Revenue Agent!
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